ASF prices flare-up intermittently

23 Oct '10

2 min read

After having dropped to low levels, towards August-end, acrylic fibre prices started off on a fast recovery, as the markets began to improve in the month of September. Burgeoning demand after the National Day holidays in October, led to prices climbing further.

In recent days, supplies of cotton type ASF 1.5d and acrylic tow were tight, which has led to a further ascent of prices. ASF prices have continued to surge in the past few fortnights, led by the bullish trends witnessed in prices of polyester and cotton.

Operating rates of acrylic fibre plants which stood at 65 percent at the beginning of the year, maintained an operating rate of between 65 and 75 percent till the middle of the year. But after June, the rates slipped to just 40 percent in the first week of July.

However after that, there was no looking back and the run-rates rebounded with a vengeance and in a matter of just 60 days, jumped by more than 100 percent to reach a peak of 85 percent in the last week of September and are currently operating at 80 percent run-rates.

The recovery in operating rates was mainly due to the fact that, inventories lying with ASF producers started to reduce, due to the surge in demand from downstream buyers.

The rise in demand has been reflected in prices too which saw prices of ASF 1.5d shoot up to 21800 Yuan / ton. Viscose staple fibre prices too have maintained the rising trend in flaring up from 17800 Yuan / ton in the first week of September to 23000 Yuan / ton for VSF 1.5d.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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